Crescent Moon
by RapidSong123
Summary: All hell breaks loose when newcomers stir things up, not just in Forks, but around the world. The Volturi have warred against the werewolves for centuries, but the war is about to come to an end. And the Cullen family is caught in the middle.
1. The Meeting

The vampires around me stiffened and all turned to look at the south side of the clearing in the forest

"Forty-five seconds." Alice casually called.

The sun was right above us in the sky, releasing its full intensity upon us. All of the Cullens and I were in the clearing, lounging about on one of the unusually sunny days in Forks. We were in the clearing where the Cullens played baseball, soaking up what little sun the year normally provided. Of course, it was impossible for any of us to tan. Even me, as I don't tan. Instead, I burn, much to everyone's immense surprise. Wasn't I anything like what Florida girls should be? I sighed, though I was grateful to have Edward beside me—his cool skin was colder that an ice pack.

"Twenty-five…" She said, loud enough for me to hear.

Though all the Cullens seemed at perfect ease, I couldn't help but suppress that worried feeling. This morning, Alice had seen a few visitors arrive here, in the clearing, with us waiting for them. Of course, like very other time a vampire is coming after me—which, according to Alice, they are not here to do, thank god—Edward went berserk when he was told. Then he tried to ship me off to Florida, but he only suggested it half- heartedly. As soon as he mentioned Florida, I called Alice and she had told me. On reflex, I had dialed Jacob's number to tell him, but, after the third number, I remembered that I wasn't supposed to be hurting him anymore. So I had closed the phone, and Edward had grudgingly accepted my refusal to back out of the meeting and let me go. Alice had already known his decision before he made it, so I was spared the worrying over his answer. Instead, I got to worry about what the vampires wanted and why—which wasn't the greatest trade I ever made, but I _did_ make it and now there was no time to run away.

"Fifteen…" Alice's voice had a slight edge to it. I was wondering if she was more apprehensive than she seemed.

Edward was the most apprehensive, though his face had smoothed over. He would glance around the clearing every few seconds, scanning the trees for the arrivals. Alice was lounging on the ground, and looking up at the sky, not even a nervous twitch. She had assured Edward that their 'guests' were only two in number, and that they were simply curious. Emmett and Jasper were having an arm wrestle. Normally, it would have been interesting to watch, as Rosalie was doing now, but my anxiousness wouldn't let me concentrate. Carlisle was relaxing and talking quietly with Esme, standing a little to the side.

"Zero."

Edward stiffened beside me. Alice gracefully got to her feet and Emmett and Jasper broke apart. Carlisle turned to the south side of the clearing, Esme beside him. I followed his gaze and watched the shadows under the trees, but my eyes were too weak to see them yet.

Very slowly, two shapes separated themselves from the growth and strolled into the meadow. They were standing beside each other, unlike James, Victoria, and Laurent, whom had been several feet apart when they approached. My stomach twisted uncomfortably. Edward and Alice, who I hadn't noticed move to my side, were very still and I was positive that they could hear my pounding heart. I was almost as sure that the other two could hear it as well, which could be very, very bad.

Carlisle walked forward to meet them and the other Cullens followed behind him, closing in around me inconspicuously. I was half hidden behind Edward's cold body. He was tense but he squeezed my hand reassuringly. I peered around his arm, my curiosity winning over my anxiety.

The pair of vampires drew closer. They stayed equal with each other when they walked, no, glided, toward us, neither taking the lead. As always, I was amazed by the grace they possessed. They stopped their forthcoming about twenty feet away from Carlisle and I could see them more clearly. In my opinion, the two were different in the extreme.

The first, a woman, had long blond hair. She was wearing very bright clothes, a mixture of bright pink and lime green that fit her slender figure perfectly. She wasn't barefoot as the last coven we had met in this clearing. She had on a pair of stilettos that I was almost certain would have broken my ankle by the time I had lifted my foot off the ground. The fact didn't seemed to bother her, and she detained the grace of a beautiful bird in flight. She looked to be around her late teens or early twenties. There was something different about her, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Like the other vampires, her skin sparkled in the sunlight, brilliant colors bouncing off of her pale skin. She was fairly short, though she was dwarfed in the shadow of the second.

He was very tall, I would have guessed at least seven feet. Somehow, he managed to look intimidating with muscular limbs and height, but so thin it looked unhealthy. He looked older than the woman, too, around maybe thirty, though his eyes revealed he was much more mature. His hair was the longest I have seen a vampire wear it; it was elbow-length and straight, and a very deep black. His clothes stood in shocking contrast with the woman's, as he was dressed all in black. At first, I thought he had been wearing a cloak like the Volturi wore—my heart skipped a beat--but now I saw it was a long trench coat, hiding almost all of his pale skin. What of it I could see was waxy looking and thin that stretched over his face. The glistening that the sun did to him didn't suit him; it looked strangely out of place on his dark features. My breath caught as I looked at his eyes--They were the reddest I had ever seen, newborns and all, glinting dully in the light. He was the picture of a Hollywood vampire—much more dark and gothic looking, the traditional Dracula.

"Hello." The woman said brightly, with a prominent French accent, and surprising me with a smile.

"Hello." Carlisle answered politely. "We have been expecting you."

"Really?" She said, mildly interested.

"Yes." Carlisle smiled serenely. "Might I ask your names?"

"I am Isabella"—I turned my head at the mention of my name, only to see that the woman was pointing to herself—" and this is Daas." She gestured lightly to the gargantuan vampire beside her. He gave the slightest of nods in greeting and Carlisle returned it.

"We are glad to have you here." Carlisle said, his smile still in place. "This is my family, Esme, Rosalie, Edward, Bella, Emmett, Alice and Jasper." He did not point out each of us and I vaguely remembered that I had thought the very same thing almost two years ago.

"Then you must be Carlisle." She said, smiling.

"Yes." The doctor said, returning the gesture.

"It is very nice to meet all of you." She said courteously. "There are more of you than…than I expected." She changed her sentence halfway through, I think in an effort to keep the conversation light.

"And you." Carlisle replied coolly. I examined the newcomers and the vampire doctor, trying to find a trace of hostile feelings. The closest I came was the large vampire, Daas's, expression. Well, it wasn't an expression—it wasn't anything really. His face was emotionless, though if I had to put a name on it I would have called it harshly cold.

But the woman, Isabella, smiled again. "I must ask you not to hunt in the immediate area, please." Carlisle added.

"Of course." Isabella said. "You are not to worry, we aren't thirsty." Her words sent a shiver up my spine that had nothing to do with temperature. Edward's arm tightened around my waist. I glanced at him. I was faintly surprised to see his brow knitted together and a look of frustration drifting over his perfect features.

"His eyes are red." I heard Jasper point out quietly, looking at Daas. I felt everyone's eyes shift to look at the man, who was standing stock still except for his eyes witch flitted from face to face to the landscape and back again. It wasn't a nervous movement, I decided, because he was not tense, but maybe a habit.

The woman frowned. "Daas's eyes are…" She paused, searching for the right word. "Deceiving." She decided on. Emmett snorted.

"Deceiving?" He inquired, chuckling darkly. I suspected that he was still in a bad mood from losing his arm wrestling match.

"Yes." The woman said, a frosty edge underlying her polite appearance. "Deceiving."

"Please, forgive me." Carlisle said amiably, "But how so?"

The woman frowned slightly. She looked up at Daas, with raised eyebrows. The man glanced down at her, but his blood red eyes moved swiftly away and began flitting over the trees again. The woman sighed dejectedly and returned her gaze to Carlisle—obviously, Daas wasn't going to be much of a help to Isabella in her explanation.

"They don't change color when he is thirsty or not." She said, struggling to make them understand. "They always stay the same."

Carlisle nodded, looking thoughtful. He paused before asking, "And your own eyes are yellow. Do you refrain from hunting humans?"

Isabella seemed grateful for the subject change. "I try not to. I am relatively new at this." She explained. I sighed in relief and realized I had been holding my breath.

Carlisle smiled again. "And Daas?"

Isabella hesitated. "Sometimes, though he hasn't in a long time." She smiled. "At least, not that I am aware of." She amended quietly. I thought I saw the side of Daas's mouth tug up, but it was gone before I could look too closely. I felt fear drip down my throat and slip into my stomach, though he had had only looked at me in passing, as he had done everyone else.

Carlisle nodded again. "Why don't you come to our home, where we can discuss this more comfortably?" He invited. I could feel Edward pull me closer to him.

Isabella smiled and looked like she was about to answer, but Daas whipped his head around too fast too ignore. At first, with a spasm of fear, I thought he was glaring at me, but the suppressed anger-filled eyes were fixed on Edward. Which didn't do much with the whole fear thing.

"Stay out of my head." Daas growled threateningly, and I realized that it was the first thing I heard him say. His voice wasn't velvety, like Edward's. It was a deep rough growl, very different from any I had heard from a vampire. I felt Emmett tense up beside me, ready to leap at Daas. I felt an edge of panic in my stomach. It must have shown on my face, because Alice put her arm around my shoulders, which I would have found very hard since Edward's was already was there, but her face remained smooth.

"As if I had much of a choice." Edward snarled.

Edward's answer confused me. He couldn't see what Daas was thinking? Besides me, that had never happened before. Was he immune as I was? I looked between the two, frightened and confused.

"Please, Daas." Isabella said soothingly, touching the highest spot on him she could reach, his upper arm, "Calm down. I am sure he didn't mean any harm." Daas's jaw clenched and his lips became a straight line, but he didn't say anything more. Edward relaxed a little beside me, though his arm remained wrapped around me. I looked up to see Carlisle looking questioningly at Edward and then nodded, and I knew something private had been exchanged.

"I apologize for our behavior." Isabella said, frowning. I couldn't help but notice that she included both of them, even though it had only been Daas.

"You apology is accepted." Carlisle said, being ever courteous.

At that precise moment, a breeze picked up. It ruffled my hair around my neck and I could feel Edward's grip around my waist tighten. I looked up to see both Isabella and Daas looking at me, the first curiously, and the second with an unreadable face.

"She's human." Isabella stated simply.

"She's one of us." Alice said, her high, soprano voice firm. I felt immediately grateful to her.

Isabella's eyes rested on Alice for a moment before flitting back to me. "I know." She said, slightly defiant. "But she is human."

"One of us." Alice repeated.

Isabella nodded. "Of course. It was just a little…surprising." Her eyes tore away and returned to Carlisle, but I could feel Daas's crimson eyes burn holes into my face. I willed myself not to look at him and thought desperately that Isabella had said his eyes stayed red all the time and that he didn't want to eat me. Edward brought me closer to himself.

"You didn't smell her earlier on?" Emmett asked her, surprise evident in his voice, almost insulting. I saw Edward give him a ferocious glare for bringing it up again, but Emmett didn't see it.

Isabella smiled again, all pre-frostiness gone. "I am new at this, remember?" She said, a bit teasing. Then I realized what I thought was different about her—she seemed more human, smiling and playfully teasing, and her face didn't go smooth when she became irritated, like when she had answered Emmett's rhetorical question about Daas's eyes. She had replied acidly, instead of being frigidly polite.

Emmett nodded, grudgingly satisfied. Then Carlisle asked, "Excuse me if I am being a bit…inconsiderate, if you will, but how long ago were you created?"

Isabella smiled. "No, no, do not be cautious to ask me questions. It is your territory, after all." She thought for a moment before answering. "I believe it is somewhere around forty years." She looked up at Daas, who confirmed it by nodding.

A hushed silence replaced the tense one. "Forty years?" I croaked. That wasn't long at all, not in the vampire's sense. Jasper was bitten around the time of the Civil War, and he still kept his distance from me. And he had been a vampire for nearly one hundred fifty years. I found it completely impossible that she could resist in just a mere forty years. It was unheard of. Those around me didn't seem to swallow it, either.

She seemed to recognize how unusual that was. Her yellow eyes returned to me. "Yes." She said calmly," Forty years." I snapped my mouth shut, and felt the heat rise to my face. Isabella frowned slightly, and her hands balled into fists, her eyes trained onto my face. She made no movements towards me, but Edward pushed me gently farther behind him. He made a low sound from somewhere deep in his chest, something like a low growl. Beside Isabella, Daas stiffened in response.

Right then it must have registered that everyone was watching her. She tore her eyes away from me and back to Carlisle, though her fists didn't unclench. She tried to smile, but it looked forced. "I'm sorry." She apologized, sounding sincerely regretful. She put a hand to her temple and shook her head lightly. Beside her, Daas still hadn't relaxed. "Please, Daas." She growled, her voice deeper and more threatening. The giant beside her grudgingly relaxed also, but not like he took it as an order. More of a request.

Carlisle nodded understandingly, but slowly, looking meaningfully at Edward until he relaxed a little beside me. Isabella's eyes darted around like she was reading the lines of an invisible book, until she pulled her hand away from her head and said, "We were looking for you." Daas glanced down at her, red eyes conveying a mute message. She frowned. "Fine then, _I_ was looking for you." Daas looked away, satisfied, and his eyes began roaming again. Watching them made me dizzy, so I looked back at Isabella.

"Yes?" Carlisle prompted.

"I was interested, you see, in your way of life. I heard about you, well, Daas heard about you from the Volturi." My stomach squirmed uncomfortably. The electricity that suddenly crackled in the air went unnoticed by the pair, as all eyes turned back to Daas again. Isabella went on, oblivious to our sudden nervousness. When I looked at her, I could see she was feeling awkward. She was looking at the ground, but kept her voice clear.

"I was wondering…_hoping_ that you could help me. I was wondering if I might stay for a while, you know, I don't want to hurt anyone…" She trailed off, and suddenly, she sounded much younger. She looked up, frowned slightly at out stunned faces, and adding hastily, "But only if you agree, of course, I wouldn't dream of staying if you didn't want me to."

Everyone in the clearing was looking at Carlisle. He looked undecided, teetering on the edge of an unexpected decision that could either lead to a disaster, which he obviously didn't want, and helping someone, which he loved to do. His wise eyes were clouded over in deep thought. Finally, after a few long minutes, he said slowly, "I must ask you to wait for my answer. I will have to talk to my family and get their opinions, and I would also like to know more about you two, of course."

Isabella sighed in relief, but reverted back to her earlier formality. "Of course."

Beside her, Daas's lips were pressed together, trying to hold back what he was about to say. There was something bothering him, that was evident, but I couldn't know what about.

"But while you wait, you are welcome to our house." Carlisle added, looking around to his family's faces. They nodded, in some cases reluctantly. I couldn't help but notice that Edward didn't nod at all.

"Thank you, I would like to accept your offer of hospitality." Isabella said graciously. "Please, do not take offense." I was surprised as she was speaking to me. "But I would rather stay as far as possible from…"

Despite Edward's warning glance, I said, in attempt to be firm, "Bella." I was pleasantly happy with how steady my voice was, instead of the tremble I had been expecting.

"Stay away from Bella"—she smiled apologetically at me—"For the time being. I don't want to hurt anyone." Edward relaxed a little more beside me, but, when I glanced up at him, his face was still smooth.

"Yes, of course." Carlisle looked at his family again. "I will accompany you to show you the way, along with Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett." Emmett, Rosalie, and Esme all stepped up beside Carlisle, nodding politely to the other pair. Isabella's warm smile widened and she ducked her head in greeting. "Jasper, Alice, Edward and Bella, would you take the Jeep back to the house, please?" I nodded, as did Jasper and Alice, except Edward, whom Carlisle was having a private word with. Whatever Carlisle said-- or rather, thought--Edward didn't like it. His jaw tightened and he looked away, but strode away with my hand in his, to the west side of the clearing and slung me onto his back. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut as Edward began to run.

Isabella's Point of View

I watched as the four mentioned slipped away into the forest, the human girl, Bella, getting onto one of the boy's back as he began to run. I fought away the insane urge to run after her, and swallowed the excess venom in my mouth. Trying to force away my thoughts away from how it would feel to taste the warm, effortlessly tasty—

No. I jerked my head, trying to empty it. I wouldn't do that to her. I took a deep breath and looked over at the four remaining vampires in front of me. I smiled again. It seemed I had been doing a lot of that lately. "Thank you." I said again. The man, Carlisle, shook his head.

"The pleasure is all ours." He said, sounding sincere if not with a trace of worry. The woman beside him, Esme I think he called her, nodded in agreement though the last, brawny, ferociously muscular one didn't look as happy as the other two. I had thought that Daas was the most muscular being I had seen in my whole life, but this Emmett would give him a run for his money. He was eyeing Daas, sizing him up. Daas stayed purposefully oblivious.

The second female was exquisitely pretty, I would give her that. Her hair was blond, like mine, but shorter. Her eyes could have easily been blue in her mortal life, but they were a darkened amber now. She was scowling heavily. I turned away from her, as I didn't want her affecting my mood.

"I am sorry for intruding so rudely." I apologized. I saw out of the corner of my eye Daas glanced down at me and away again. I don't think he was used to me saying sorry so much. I ignored him.

Carlisle shook his head. "No, no, don't be sorry." He said lightly, gesturing me forward. He took off to the west side, Esme, Emmett, and the last girl following closely behind, with the inhuman speed we possessed.

Daas was after them in half a second. He was fast, and easily caught up with them. Closing my eyes, I waited until I could hear their footsteps echoing, the noise grew louder as it started bouncing off larger trees as they ran farther and farther into the forest. This was my favorite part of being a vampire. It was worth the eternally unquenched thirst that was ever present, the three days of agony I had to endure during my Turning.

My eyes flew open. My feet moved slowly at first, at a human's pace. But my pace quickened easily, faster and faster, until I was flying. There was no stopping me now; I laughed as I ran. My hair was streaming behind me, billowing in my slipstream, my clothes pulled tight against my body. All too soon, I was beside Carlisle. I hadn't realized that I had outrun Daas. I looked back at him over my shoulder. He flashed a quick smile, revealing startlingly white teeth, and it made my heart leap. I smile something I hadn't seen on his face in a long time. It looked strange on his face, and I wondered absently why I thought that. It was like I had pictured Daas with a permanent expressionless face but the quick smile made me happy for him. It made me smile, too.

I turned back around. I could see Carlisle beside me. He stretched his arm out in front of him. My gaze followed his pointed finger and I saw, distantly, a white light in front of me. Their house? Whatever it was, he was telling me which way to go. I looked back at Daas again and yelled, "Race you there!" And took off, easily dashing forward.

I could hear Daas behind me, noisy for a vampire, crashing through the undergrowth. I was more careful and jumped from one foot to the next swiftly. Daas wasn't far behind me, but he was slowly falling back.

I made it to the clearing, though I didn't get a chance to see what was there.

I was too fast for my own good. I tried for a sliding stop, but I just skidded across the ground, feet first. In front of me, something moved so fast, even my extra sensitive eyes--able to pick up lightning-fast movements--didn't catch it. The boy, Bella's boyfriend, was on top of me, much faster than I expected.

I was sent reeling with him, each clutching onto the other's shoulders. His hands were nearly about to crush my arms. Somewhere behind me I heard two exclamations of 'No!' though both voices were meant for different people. The girl, Bella, was crying out for her nameless lover and Daas was roaring in anger. Finally, we came to a halt.

He was on top of me, though his body was at least a foot away from mine. He was taller than me, his feet tipped up on the ground. It was like he was readying himself to do a pushup, pressing me to the ground. His face was inches from mine.

"Don't" He hissed, his eyes wild with fury, "touch her."

I didn't look away, even though I found the butterscotch eyes intimidating. "I wasn't going to." I spat back at him. "Now, get _off_ me." I shoved him upwards. He rocked back onto his feet smoothly, his expression disbelieving. I scrambled up much less gracefully. Daas and Carlisle with part of his family were just arriving now, entering the small part of the forest.

"Isabella." Daas said, shoving the boy effortlessly out of the way. "You okay?" He said gruffly, faint lines of worry appearing on his brow.

"Fine, Daas, fine." I said, rubbing my bruised arms. "He thought I was going for his girl."

The boy glowered in my direction, the look of utter distaste evident on his face. I frowned and sighed. I had never been good at first impressions. Busying myself by brushing my clothes off, I tried to compose my face and get the frustration out of it, like Daas always did. But of course, Daas had had much more practice than me.

Daas shrugged and looked away. The lead vampires of the abnormally large coven, Carlisle's, family were grouped in front of a white mansion. In front of it, was a long trail where the grass had been ripped up. If I were human, I would have blushed right then, as I realized that that is where I had slid, in an effort to stop myself. I couldn't help but staring at the house, though. It was so, well, big. Finally, after Daas had let me look at it, awestruck, he growled, "Go on, Isabella, they're waiting for you." Glancing over at them, I could see that he was right, like always.

"C'mon, then." I said wearily. "And let's hope he doesn't jump on me again." I heard Daas grunt from behind me, amused. I walked over to where they were standing, trying to squash the feeling of embarrassment by their torn up yard.

I sighed and said quickly, staring at the ground, "I'm sorry that I carved a path of destruction through your lawn." Glancing up, I hastily examined each of their faces. One of them, Emmett, looked like he was just about to burst. Finally, when no one said anything, he blurted out, "That was sweet, kid, what are you talking about?" There was a chorus of laughter, and I joined in. Daas was silent as ever beside me, though I had expected nothing more. I had given up long ago on trying to squeeze some emotion out of him.

They began to trickle inside, Bella and her boyfriend first. I had a feeling they were trying to get her out of my line of sight. Maybe I was just being paranoid, but I thought I saw him whisper to her, thought I heard something along the lines of 'Don't worry, Bella, she won't hurt you'. I scowled. Daas had heard it too, as he glared at the boy's retreating back. "Let it go, Daas." I murmured, before stepping inside the vampire's home.

My reaction to the inside of their home was much the same as the outside. I ogled—I couldn't help myself. Beside me, Daas chuckled. "What she's trying to say is that she likes the house." I heard Emmett chortle. My grin widened.

"It's beautiful." I emphasized.

"Thank you." Carlisle said. The vampire's coven was situated behind him, leaning against the far wall, seated onto the raised platform where the grand piano was placed, and Bella and her boyfriend sitting comfortably on the piano bench.

"Straight to business, then?" I suggested. Carlisle nodded. "Ask away." I said.

The man turned to his family. He studied their faces, and appeared to be thinking. All of his family's eyes were on him, waiting for the first question. Some didn't look to happy, but others simply looked bored. Either they were paying very close attention and were extraordinarily good actors or they just plain didn't care. I would like to think it was the first, personally, just because it means Daas and I were being taken seriously.

Then, turning back to Daas and I, Carlisle said quietly, "You mentioned the Volturi earlier. Please explain."

I glanced up at Daas. This was exactly what he had been afraid of. He had spent the last few decades trying to erase his history so that he would be almost impossible to track. Revealing it again to the second largest coven known in the world was not in his interests.

They saw me hesitate. First impressions were definitely not my forte. I sighed and tried to change the direction of the conversation. "Look, Daas isn't planning to stay long, he just—

"Answer the question." I turned to look at the boy whose lap Bella was currently occupying. I opened my mouth to reply furiously, but I felt Daas's crushing vice-like grip around my already-bruised arm. I winced—my arm was going to be purple. Taking a deep breath, I fought to find the right words. It was surprising when Daas replied. He rarely ever spoke. I tried to stifle a chuckle—he said he was quiet because he was afraid that he would offend everyone else in the room if he said anything. Thinking about it, he probably would. There was a quiet snort from Bella's boyfriend, pulling me out of my reverie, though I didn't pick up what he found so funny.

"It is not her fault for her hesitation." He said, his voice no more than a low growl. "I didn't want to come here, to find you." I looked up at Daas. They had no idea what he was doing for me, I was sure. "I have spent the last decade or two—"

"—That's a understatement, —" I muttered, but he ignored me.

"—Erasing my existence from the memories of those who have come into contact with me." I thought I saw Bella shudder. That mad longing welled up inside of me to see her blood spill, pool on to the floor.

No—stop it. I tried to focus back onto Daas's low voice.

"Unfortunately, one of my more…powerful connections escaped me and fled to the Volturi. They…_requested_" he spat the words out, disgusted, "my presence. So I went. They mentioned you in passing, and Isabeau did some digging."

Carlisle inquired quietly, "Isabeau?"

"My French name." I piped in, overdoing the French accent. Carlisle smiled and nodded.

"Of course."

Alice chimed in, very politely, "What did they say?"

Daas turned a little to look at her. "They said that they had a" He sneered the next word. Obviously, as some of the Cullen coven had noticed, he wasn't too terribly fond of the Volturi. "Appointment with a boy named Edward." Bella's head snapped up in alarm. I tried to calm her by smiling reassuringly, but I don't think it helped much. Actually, I think my smile frightened her a little. I guiltily looked away, back to Daas. "And that he was surprised Carlisle hadn't given up and gone back to his 'natural food source'." He said.

Alice nodded. Carlisle had averted his gaze to Edward, who was looking intently at Daas, a hint of frustration in his eyes. I didn't quite understand. What should he be frustrated about? Then a annoying little voice in the back of my head chimed in, _Except for your overwhelming thirst to eat his girlfriend. _

"Edward cannot hear your voice." Carlisle said politely, looking back to Daas. Now that tied my mind up in pretzels. Of course he could hear him!

"His thoughts." The boy spoke up, around Bella's shoulder, answering my mental question.

It took me a moment to catch up with them. I fought the urge to let my mouth drop and gape at him. "You can read minds?" I asked incredulously.

"Something like that." Edward growled, returning his gaze to Bella. He could read minds. Which meant even the secrets I had locked away in the back of my mind could be accessed, if I thought about them. I immediately expelled them away. Edward grinned into Bella's neck and murmured. "You caught up quickly." I couldn't keep from glaring at him.

And then I caught up with why he had snorted earlier—I had been thinking about Daas and his sarcastic answer to my question that I relayed in my mind. My eyes narrowed.

"But he cannot read Daas's." Carlisle said. "A first, besides Bella." He added.

"He can't read your mind?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow. The girl smiled timidly, and looked like she was about to reply, but Edward beat her there.

He sighed exasperatedly. "Must you repeat everything Carlisle says?"

My glare deepened.

"No, he cannot read Daas's mind." Carlisle answered, tuning-out Edward.

I looked up at Daas—he hadn't told me that before. At first, I felt a flash of anger and then disappointment and then wondering what else had hadn't told me. I was about to voice my opinion when I heard a low chuckle behind me. My earlier feelings temporarily disappeared and were replaced by a wave of annoyance. I turned slowly, my hand on my hip, rolling my eyes as I went.

"They keep secrets from each other." Edward muttered, smirking. At that moment, I really wished that glares could kill. Edward would have been dead within the space of a few seconds. "Harsh." He said, snickering, looking triumphantly up at me.

"Edward," I heard Bella mumble under her breath. I suddenly decided that I liked Bella, even though we had barely said anything to each other. At least she had the right idea. And then I smiled, as a thought had just occurred to me in the time he had been distracted.

_You know, Edward, this is really very annoying. You reading my mind every few seconds, I mean. _I mentally beamed at him. He seemed to get the message as he looked sharply up from Bella. I smirked. "Catch up quickly, remember?" I said innocently, turning back to Daas. I was pleased when I found I could feel his glare burning at my back.

"She's good." I heard Emmett chortle.

"So he can't read your mind. That's news." I said, folding my arms and waiting expectantly, eyebrows raised in Daas's direction.

He rolled his eyes. "Don't be difficult, Isabella, please."

"Define difficult." I said acidly.

"As in being stubborn." Then he sighed dejectedly. "Too late." He muttered. I didn't miss that.

"But you never told—

He held his hands by his ears in surrender, which was much higher than I had a hope of reaching. "I didn't tell you because I didn't know myself. It was only a theory, Isabella, I didn't know for sure." I was vaguely aware of the vampires around us, watching intently. He looked like he was about to add something else, but decided against it.

"Then explain."

Daas's eyes went flat and lifeless. I could almost visualize his voice becoming a flat bass monotone. His face smoothed over and I recognized the facial expression where all his emotion retreated behind an unmovable façade. I sighed. He didn't like it when I asked him to explain things to me, things that he said I had no right to know in the first place. He said I should be satisfied that he chose to share his opinion, and not to keep it to himself like he did whenever anyone besides me was around. The memory of Daas telling me this repeatedly ran through my head, and, remembering that there was a very rude mind-reader among us—out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward grimace—I stifled the memory. Finally, I muttered, "I'm sorry, Daas. Just frustrated."

He didn't respond to my apology, but turned back to Carlisle and said very reluctantly, "I believe that I can put up mental walls against those trying to…" His gaze shifted to Edward, who was looking just as sternly back at him. "Get in." He finished, his red eyes staying trained on Edward. The other vampire was staring vehemently back, stroking Bella's hair as he did.

Carlisle looked thoughtful for a moment. Daas took his silence as an expectant one, and resumed into a grudgingly reluctant detail description. "It has limitations." He paused, searching around for a suitable example. "You are familiar with Jane? She is with Volturi." He prompted casually, though, since I had spent nearly half a century with Daas, I could see that he did so unwillingly.

"Too familiar." I heard Bella mutter. I grinned at her. She looked a little taken aback, but returned with a tentative smile.

"Her…extra weapon works on me." He looked as if this was the last thing he wanted to say. He was arming this coven with a weapon, I realized, and he really didn't want to do it. I felt a rush of gratitude for him, as I knew the only reason he divulged this information was for me. "She inflicts mental pain, but not anything physical. I can feel someone trying to see what is in my mind, and can block it. But Jane does not want to see what is in my mind, she just wants to access it to inflict pain."

"So you believe that only those who want to _know_ what is inside your head can't get in, but those who want to access it--for reasons other than to know what you were thinking--can." Carlisle looked interested as tried to understand.

Daas frowned. I had a feeling that he didn't like the fact Carlisle had caught on so quickly. "Yes."

"And you can block them?"

"To an extent."

"What limitations are there?" I asked. I felt that if Carlisle asked, Daas wouldn't answer. I didn't want to start another squabble.

Daas seemed to know what I was thinking. He answered through gritted teeth, so it came out in a sort of hiss. "Aro." In my peripheral vision, Bella readjusted herself nervously on Edward's lap and he wrapped his arms more firmly around her waist.

There was a silence around the vast room. "Aro?" I prompted.

Daas nodded. "He can get in." He winced. "Having your mind pried open from the inside out isn't pleasant."

For once, no one said anything. We all waited in muted horror, reveling in what pain Daas must have gone through. I shuddered—I knew Daas had gone through a lot of painful experiences, some of which I witnessed, but having him explain it like that didn't help anything. I quickly pushed the memories away, in case Edward saw them.

I could see Carlisle's expression and he looked sympathetic. "I imagine it is." He replied in what was almost a whisper. Daas nodded slowly—he hated being pitied. I believe his exact words were something along the line of 'Others shouldn't waste their pity on me, as it certainly won't be returned'. But, like most everything else Daas said, that was only a half-truth. I was a witness to what lengths he would go to help those he cared for.

Daas sighed. "Yes, Aro mentioned Bella, also." It was Edward's turn to look alarmed. "After he finished destroying my mental walls and reading every single"— Daas went into a very explicit list of curses that he said so fast I could barely keep up with him—" thought, he mentioned how I was limited in ways that Bella was not. At the time, I had no idea of who Isabella Swan was, so it didn't provoke me the way he had wanted it to."

"Why did he want to provoke you?" asked the very pretty girl.

Daas didn't seem to notice her beauty as he replied simply, "He and I aren't best friends."

"How do you know Bella's full name?" Edward asked lowly, something very close to a growl.

"Isabeau is quite talented at figuring out things she isn't supposed to know." He said, a hint of a smile on his face. Of course, Daas didn't smile often, so I took it as a good sign. I tried to look innocent. Daas rolled his eyes and my grin widened.

"Then the Volturi called her Isabella?" Edward asked. Obviously, the fact held significance to him. He exchanged a nervous glance with Alice.

"Yes." Daas replied, his voice cold.

Edward exhaled through his teeth. Obviously, he had hoped to keep as much information away from them as possible.

"You didn't think they had spies?" I asked tentatively.

His silence was answer enough.

Trying to steer the conversation away from dangerous waters, I asked Daas, "Then, in order to, erm, open your mind, you have to be relatively powerful?" Daas turned to look at me, frowning, as I asked my question.

"More like how old you are." He said quietly. "The older you are, the more time you have to figure things out, to hone your skills." I sighed when I thought about while he hadn't mentioned this. Undoubtedly, Edward would be testing his strength on him, to try and get into his head. I nodded, and shut up.

Carlisle left it at that. "And you, Isabella? Can you do anything extra?" I shook my head.

"Not that I know of."

Carlisle seemed satisfied.

"That is enough for now. We can continue…" He looked over at Bella, who was pleading with her eyes to wait for her to return before anything else commenced. "In the morning." Bella smiled and I noticed that, behind her, Edward scowled.

I smiled. "Whatever you say."


	2. The Hunt

2

2. T H E H U N T

Daas and I stayed long enough at the Cullens' to see Bella and Edward drive away. Alice volunteered to go, also. The Cullens don't trust us yet, I was sure, because it only takes one person to drive home, not three. I shrugged it off—they had a right to be wary, right? They had only just met us, and I couldn't expect more.

When Daas and I left, the moon had already risen. Carlisle and Esme granted us a good night before we slipped away into the surrounding woods. The two of us immediately left the scene, as we didn't want them to have a chance at asking us—mainly Daas—any more questions. We ran for a few miles before we finally slowed down.

"Where would you like to spend the night?" I wondered, no longer bothering to stay quiet like I had around the other vampires. "We could go back to the clearing and hang out there." I suggested.

Daas shrugged and muttered, "Or we could check out the surrounding area."

"Good idea." I grimaced. "But nowhere near the town. I don't know how well I could handle myself."

Daas looked me over quickly with his ever-moving red eyes and asked gruffly, "Do you want to hunt?"

I shrugged. "We could check the place out, first, if you want to. Then we can travel a ways up north and hunt. Carlisle doesn't want us hunting here." I reminded him.

Daas snorted. "Humans or animals?" He never looked at me when he spoke; his eyes were most of the time of the horizon.

I frowned. "Does it matter?" He sighed dejectedly. "Fine, then. It's settled."

Daas jogged westward, keeping it close to the trees. We traveled in circles for a few hours, inspecting every mile of the forest, leaving no rock unturned. It took us a while, but we managed to cover a vast area. We traveled in silence and away from the surrounding towns. My mouth watered whenever the human scent found its way to me, but I resisted. I have to say, I was rather pleased with myself.

The whole area was not large. Daas and I covered it pretty easily, and quicker than I expected. The moon hadn't even risen at its highest point before we were finished. Of course, I didn't dare go anywhere near the town. The only reason that I could have kept myself from killing Bella is because there were so many there around us. If it had just been her and I….I shuddered involuntarily. I didn't want to kill her for one thing—she was so very likable! I had hardly said anything to her and yet I still felt a strange pull to her—besides the obvious desire to eat her—like she had been my friend in a lost life. Hey, I'm a strange person. Er, vampire. What can I say?

There was a scent I caught around midnight, not far from the town. It wasn't a human scent, although I smelled a lot of that too, but this smelled like salt…

"Water!" I exclaimed. I dashed in the direction the scent was coming from. Behind me, Daas rolled his eyes but followed anyway. I didn't stop running until my toes had sand between them and the air carried the briny air of the sea. I sighed. The shoreline was a hundred feet away. I could have gazed at that water forever…

Daas caught up with me seconds later. He didn't say anything as I moved forward, peering down at a sign stuck sideways into the sand. It was made of old wood, and the salt had drained it of color. Painted on it in faded blue chipping paint were the words: **First Beach**. I read it aloud so Daas could hear me. When he didn't say anything, I skipped towards the water.

Pulling off my shoes and trying to roll up my pants at the same time proved difficult, but I eventually managed it. Smiling insanely, I waded in ankle-deep. The water was chilly and sent cold shivers up my spine. I laughed, kneading my toes in the pebbles and shells underneath the brackish water.

Daas strolled away a little bit, preferring to stay dry. I watched him with mild interest, as he sauntered along the edge, his boots making a crunching sound in the sand. A slight breeze picked up and Daas's hair flew around his face, looking like some sort of black cloud around his head. One white hand flashed up and easily tamed it, twisting the whole bunch of it down by his right ear. Daas continued his stroll up the beach, the sand eventually turning to rock and the land sloping upwards into sheer cliffs.

The wind blew my hair away from my face as I walked in the water, parallel to the beach edge, never going more than halfway up my shin. Daas's absence left me thinking; how could Bella and Edward manage a relationship? Daas had told me that the Volturi called Bella his singer, and yet he still managed to love her. The thought made my mind flit to a face, a face that I tried desperately to push away, but couldn't. The more I tried to make the face disappear, to forget all about it, the worse it came back. It stuck into my mind, and no matter how I tried to distract myself, it would not leave.

His face was easy to recall, though I tried desperately to forget. The face was a young man's, around the age of seventeen. His eyes weren't red, but they reminded my of Daas's. They had so much more depth in them, so much more kindness and memories than a regular seventeen year-old should. His eyes were the same shade black as his hair, which was spiked into all directions. The boy was lanky, and his muscles were the long wiry type that weren't immediately noticeable under the baggy clothes he wore. His face was thin, and he had an eyebrow piercing. I remembered bugging him about it, pleading for him to take it out, but he ever did. He always laughed at the idea, and shrugged it off. It was hard to continue annoying him after that, so I had let it drop for a while, only to bring it back up the next day.

I hadn't realized that I was crying. I reached to my face, and brushed away the traitorous tears. Looking up, away from the mesmerizing water at my feet, I realized that I had traveled farther down the beach than I thought. I hadn't recognized how far I had walked…

I was getting ready to turn around and go find Daas, but a movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. Turning my head slowly towards the trees, my eyes searched through the darkness, though it didn't take long. There, hunched over at the base of a gnarled driftwood tree, was a man or a boy—I couldn't tell which in the distance I was standing. He had long black hair and copper-colored skin that was made even darker by the shadows surrounding him. He was watching me intently, following my every movement with black eyes. He never looked away from me, and when I turned, he shifted his gaze to my face. I was startled; he looked much more intimidating than I expected him to. Automatically, I backed up a step.

Through a stuck throat, I rasped, "He—

But the wind switched directions, blowing his scent at me. I recoiled—it smelled appalling! My hand whipped up to cover my nose, blocking the repulsive scent from my nostrils. I coughed, trying to rid myself from it. It was horribly familiar. I knew that scent—the face I had imagined earlier lurked behind my eyelids. Trying to get the picture in my mind, I stopped breathing to stop the scent from affecting me. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to squash away the mental picture. "No." I muttered, panicked. "Leave me alone!"

There was a ripping noise and an ear-splitting howl that rang through the silent night. It echoed off the trees, and it rang in my ears. I clapped my hands over them, in a fruitless effort to block the racket. My eyes flew open.

Where the man had been, a large rust colored wolf had taken its place. It growled ferociously and I backed away. The wolf was huge, bigger than a bear and much more muscular. I gaped in horror, my mind flying in all directions to try and understand what was going on. My jaw closed with an audible snap as I realized what I was looking at. That man, the one who had been sitting on the fallen tree, was a _werewolf_.

Behind me, I heard a distant voice yell, "Isabeau!"

I couldn't move. My legs stayed frozen to the spot, even though my mind was screaming for me to run. My breath came in gasps and I couldn't see clearly. I felt the adrenaline pump through my veins, and if I had been mortal, my heartbeat would have been loud enough for the wolf to hear.

I saw the colossal wolf pace forward, close to the ground. His hackles were raised, and his gleaming white teeth were visible, his lips pulled back in a snarl. I staggered back, my legs unwilling to move.

Very suddenly, the growling intensified dramatically. I turned my head very slowly toward the trees, dreading what I would see. Stalking out of the shadows was much more than my worst nightmare.

Nine other werewolves were emerging from all directions. They were multi-colored, but there eyes all gleamed the same intelligent black. I tried to scream, but my throat was dry. The wolves converged, low to the ground, leaving no gaps for me to escape.

"Oh my god." I whispered frantically to myself. "Oh my god."

All of their lips were drawn back in to a wolfy smile, their white teeth bared. I realized that I had started to breath again. The vile smell was overwhelming. I pressed my arm to my face, finding it hard to concentrate enough to cut off my oxygen supply.

Why weren't they attacking? They could have had me dead decades ago, I thought.

A black shape hurled itself in front of me. Water sprayed into the air in the air in all directions as it landed, the speed startling the beasts slightly. The wolves stopped their advance, their intelligent eyes following Daas as he positioned himself protectively in front of me.

Daas's lips were pulled back, revealing intimidating white teeth. Daas bent down into a crouch, his long black hair hanging in curtains on the side of his face. He roared in fury, a sound that I had only heard once. It drowned out the wolves' growls by a lot.

"Run, Isabeau, into the water!" he yelled at me, swiping his hand through the air when a wolf got to close. "Get back, you mangy dog!" He bellowed.

Daas's appearance only made the wolves more restless. They began pacing back and forth, their wary black eyes never leaving us. I tried to run into the water, but the largest flung himself in front of me, blocking my escape.

I hesitated.

That was all the werewolf needed. With a huge black paw, he flung me back, sending me sprawling into the shallows. I coughed, spitting out a gallon full of water. Daas whipped around, turning his back momentarily on the others. He hissed, planting one foot over my body as I tried to plan what to do. But my brain was in turmoil—I couldn't think right. It was zipping in all directions in utter chaos.

Daas looked like he was restraining himself from attacking, but that was irrelevant. They were dogs here, and the Cullens had not said anything at all about them. Fury swept through me, but was quickly replaced by my fear again. We were heavily outnumbered.

If Daas ran, if he found a opening, he could make it. He was much more powerful than he let on, and I knew that. I knew also that I was doomed, so why should Daas waste his life on me? "Daas." I hissed at him as I shot to my feet. "Get out of here, you can make it!"

Daas shook his head and growled, his enraged red eyes flitting from dog to foul dog. "I'm not leaving."

"Don't be stupid." I ducked out of the way of a snapping jaw and Daas took the opening to take a crack at its head. The wolf backed away, growling and whimpering in pain at the same time. "This isn't the time to play hero!"

Daas grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the way from another vicious attack. "Isabella, if I was some sort of hero," he flattened another wolf who broke formation, "Then I would have died long ago!"

My answer was swiftly forgotten as I was taken unawares by a flying paw, and did a face-plant in the sand. I got to my feet quickly, spitting the gritty dirt out of my mouth while Daas covered my back. He only defended and attacked enough to get the wolves to back off. We were backed halfway into the water and the wolves had formed a tight revolving circle around us, ther eyes intent upon us. Their was not a second when a snarl hadn't filled it.

I got it then—if Daas hurt anyone of them, they would attack all that much faster and we still hadn't gotten a escape plan formed. But the wolves weren't really attacking either. I had time to note in between nearly getting beheaded and almost having both of my legs torn off. They launched a quick assailment, one at a time, most unlike their normally coordinated moves, and drew back. But the want to see our deaths was visible in their eyes and on some of them it looked like it was driving them mad.

One gray werewolf in particular, who was beginning to look deranged in his wolfish way, lunged, impatience and the want to see Daas and I dead sending him into a frenzy. His comrade attempted to stop him, snapping his jaws in a mute order for him to come back, though the mad wolf didn't listen in the slightest. He hurtled toward Daas, teeth bared. I dove away, in an effort to protect myself, expecting for Daas to do the same.

I was wrong.

There was a sound like boulders smashing together as Daas met the wolf head-on. His vice-like hands locked around the wolf's shoulders, crushing the bones to splinters. The wolf howled in pain and the rest of the huge pack closed in.

I screamed as I felt a searing pain up my left leg. From the ground, I could see one of the dog's jaws closed around it, its eyes twinkling triumphantly. It shook its head and released me, throwing me out from underneath Daas into a very hard, stationary object.

I rebounded off of it, and had time to glimpse a very sizable dent in the tree's trunk, before being picked up and thrown again. This time, my arm was jerked and I was sent flying. I heard Daas bellow, infuriated.

"No! Isabeau, NO!" He roared, one arm stretched out to reach me. The largest wolf, the black one, loomed out of nowhere from behind him. I tried to warn him, to tell him that the Alpha was right behind him, but my warning came much to late. The wolf caught him mid-spin, the gigantic jaws clamping down on his shoulder. I watched in horror as the werewolf dragged him to the ground, into the shallow water.

"Daas!" I shrieked. "No, don't hurt him! Please!" I begged. I fought to get to him, to rip the filthy thing off him, but the rest of the pack jumped in my way, preventing me from getting to him, much faster than their bulk should have allowed.

The wolf didn't pause. He jerked his head roughly, side to side. Daas roared in pain, and my screaming increased. "Leave him alone! No, please, leave him alone!"

At that moment, blaring lights appeared from between the trees, the sound of a speeding car reaching my ears late. The dogs leapt out of its way in what must have been surprise—I was certain that they could have taken it out quite easily. It came to a screeching halt in front of me, the tires squealing, coming to an abrupt halt right in front of me.

"Get in!"

Daas was faster than the wolves; He ripped himself free of the werewolf's grasp, swept me up from the ground, and hurled me into the car. He slammed the door shut behind me and yelled to the anonymous driver. "Go!"

"No!" I screamed, "Come on, Daas! Come on!"

Daas didn't look back as he turned to face the wolves by himself. The driver stomped on the gas, sending us flying forward. Daas didn't try to fight them—I still remember how he stood motionless, not trying to defend himself as they all jumped on him at once. They piled on top of him, and the last of him disappeared under their mass, hiding him from my view. I remember someone screaming and only realized later that it had been me. The only part of him that was still visible was his hair, and the filthy dogs ripping at it like he was some sort of toy. Daas collapsed under their weight and the whole mound of them fell on top of him. Their snarls and howls of triumph echoed through the night. I can still recall the horrendous sound, as I still see the image every time my eyes close. But as the car sped away, even the massive shapes of those mangy dogs were swallowed in the darkness that enveloped that night.

All was black.

Once we got well away from the beach, the car slowed to a creeping pace. I was vaguely aware of the fact, as I was sobbing in the backseat.

I was curled into a ball, rocking back and forth, trying to stifle the sobs that racked through my body. My hands were clutching myself, but the pain my long nails caused seemed dull compared to the pain I was feeling internally.

He was gone. Daas was gone just like all the others. I sobbed harder, my breath coming in gasps. No, no, he couldn't be. That wasn't right. He had always been that unmovable wall between me and everything else that sought to hurt me, my own protector. He was everything to me, my closest friend. Yet he had been brutally torn away from me. The image of him waiting like a statue, beautiful and elegant, waiting for them to finish the job—It broke my still heart.

The next thing I knew, someone had me in their arms. I would have fought them, but I couldn't. I just curled up tighter, retreating into my own little painful world. My vision was blurred, I couldn't see right. Everything around me became a shapeless cloud of color. I tried to stop crying, but the tears came faster and more than ever. There were soft sounds coming from them, and I saw the driver get out and be immediately embraced and I saw the form of the white house and felt the cold arms around me.

I didn't care or know who could read my thoughts right then. My memory flashed back to the last time I saw him smiling at me, a fleeting flash of white teeth, I heard his laugh, husky and hoarse from being unused, I saw him gruffly humming the tune to one of his favorite songs, I saw him above me, snarling and roaring in fury as the mongrels tried to get to me. I saw his back, his long black hair that fanned out behind him beautifully when he ran, the white-faced anger he used to try and conceal from me. The most clear was a picture of him with no expression on his white face—it was what he mostly wore, a expression that gave nothing away that went on behind those blood red eyes. The ones I knew I would never see again.

Someone was rubbing my back and murmuring to me, trying to reassure me that everything was okay. I shook my head vigorously. "No." I choked on the words. "It's not."

Beside me, I heard a softer voice, more calm and practiced. He was speaking quietly, and I recognized the blur in front of me as Carlisle. "Are you okay, Isabella? Are you hurt?"

I shook my head side to side, as I knew my voice was of no use right now. I heard someone beside me, Esme, sigh in relief.

"Isabella." Carlisle said, his voice firm but quiet. "Where is Daas?" My sobs redoubled as his face came back into focus.

Someone farther away, on the other side of the room, say slowly, "I found them in La Push." There was an intake of breath around the room. I didn't know what La Push was; it held no significance for me.

"Jacob found them." I heard a male growl, maybe Edward. That caught my attention.

I tried to blink away the tears and swallow the lump in my throat. Neither went away, but managed enough coherency to say, "Who is Jacob?"

There was a hushed silence around the room, like no one wanted to be the one to answer me. I sternly wiped away the tears that escaped away with the back of my hand.

We were in the Cullen's house, though a part that I had never seen before. I assumed it was the Living Room, as I was seated on a comfortable couch and others around me were sitting in recliners. There was a magnificent fireplace, almost taking up one whole wall.

"Who is he?" I asked again, looking around at the faces. They were all here—all except one. I did my best to ignore the burning behind my eyes.

I twisted around to look at Esme, who was seated on one side of me, Carlisle on the other. The look of pity in her eyes had me thinking. With a sudden rush of understanding, and a even more powerful swell of mutinous anger, my jaw closed with a audible snap. I didn't ask for an explanation again. I didn't need it. I remembered the man underneath the tree, the werewolf, the monster who had killed my Daas. I gritted my teeth together and when I exhaled, it came as a loud hiss.

"Damn them." I growled. "Damn them all."

The vampires around me all glanced at each other, and I noticed Bella sitting white-faced beside Edward, clutching his hand, and staring down at where my feet were. She looked fearful, for more reasons than one I think. Though I couldn't figure out why she would be any more scared after driving a car right into the middle of a fight.

"Why didn't you tell me there were dogs here?" I demanded, my earlier anger returning. My hands had balled into fists.

"We didn't think the information quite", Carlisle struggled for the right word, one, I think, he thought that wouldn't get me anymore angry, "necessary."  
"Not. Necessary." I said through gritted teeth. "Why?"

"Because we try exult cautiousness when we tell someone we are currently at peace with the wolves." Then, after a moment of thought, he added, due to my short life as a vampire and the ignorance that came along with it, "Vampires tend to look down upon those who associate themselves with werewolves."

"I know." I said, slightly insulted by his need to explain it to me. "But I won't be at peace with them for much longer." The tense silence intensified. I could tell that they were distracted by something, but I had no idea what.

After a minute of time for me to calm down, Carlisle said softly, "I would appreciate it if you didn't go back on their land." I wheeled around to gawk at him in disbelief. If he thought that I wasn't going to avenge Daas's death, then he was mistaken. Horribly mistaken. But the man held his hands up, palms facing me. "Please let me explain." He took my furious silence as a 'go ahead'.

"Isabella, our treaty with the werewolves say that we won't go onto their land and that they wouldn't bother us if we stayed on our side of the boudry line. Other vampires who we took as friends are automatically included in it. And since you are in my house and we are taking concern in your well-being, I think that would count as a friend." He smiled a little. Even through my anger, I felt a little touched by his words. But that still wouldn't keep me from avenging Daas. Carlisle continued slowly, unabashed by my lack of a response. "If you go back and attack them"—there was a fearful squeaking from Bella, though I was too enveloped in what Carlisle was saying to do anything about it—"Then you will start a war."

He let the words sink in. I looked around at the other's faces, all of which told me that Carlisle was telling the truth. I warred with myself, glaring down at my hands, which were grasping fistfuls of the sofa. I focused on extricating one finger from the furniture at a time before hedging. "You expect me to act as if Daas wasn't just killed?"

I took Carlisle's silence as a yes. I ground my teeth together, surpresing the words that bubbled to my mouth.

When Carlisle thought my anger had calmed a little he said softly, "Really, Isabella, how were you planning to kill all ten of them when there is only one of you?"

I hated Carlisle's sense of logic, but he had a point.

"I was still working on that part." I muttered, avoiding his gaze.

"Please don't do that Isabella. Not only will you be throwing your life away, but more other's, too." I glanced around at Carlisle's family, each of their faces stony. Except Bella's whose face startled me. She was under obvious strain, like my words worried her. Like she was scared for _them_. My teeth ground together all that more tightly as I tried to push the thought away.

Trying to distract myself, I grumbled, "I thought you were supposed to be sleeping." Oh, how I longed to be able too sink into a dreamless sleep like she could.

She looked up at me, her eyes wide. "Yes." She said, her voice trembling. "Yes, I was." My gaze slid over to Edward, whose jaw was clenched tightly, just like mine. He was looking at me, not quite a glare but very close, and watching my face closely. His expression was like I was missing something obvious. I found that bothered me an intensely.

"What?" I demanded. He didn't look away. It took a second of thought, but I caught on quickly.

"You tried to follow us?" My voice wasn't angry, more of an incredulous feeling. I knew that they didn't trust us—me, there was no more 'us', though I immediately pushed that hurtful thought away—but I hadn't realized how wary, how very careful they were. "You must really love her." I muttered, trying very hard not to look at Edward.

"I do. I don't think she realizes how much." He said quietly. I glanced at Bella, but immediately looked away. She was blushing furiously and he was smiling crookedly down at her, though I was positive he hadn't forgotten the danger she had risked, but their faces were barely inches apart. It seemed too private for me to see.

Beside me, Carlisle nodded, like nothing had passed between Edward and I. "Yes." He confirmed. "After Alice and Edward dropped Bella off, they picked up your scent and followed you. But you went over into La Push and—

I interrupted. My manners meant very little to me right now. "La what?"

"La Push." Carlisle said, unfazed by my rudeness. "Werewolf territory."

"They have territory?" I grumbled.

"Yes, and we made a pact with them. We would not cross into their territory, if they did not bother us."

I glanced up at Edward and was surprised to see his jaw clenched. "You couldn't come any farther after we crossed. So you were forced to give up on the trail." I said quietly, dropping my eyes from Edward's.

Carlisle nodded again. "When they heard the fight, Edward came back and told me." He paused, editing the story. My eyes narrowed. "We sent Bella to get you."

Edward looked angry. He pressed Bella to him, like he was afraid to let her go. "And she went against your wishes." I said, speaking to Edward now. He remained silent, and I could almost feel the heat of his anger underneath his face. I turned away, pressing my lips together firmly in an effort to thwart the another sob from raking my body. Instead of looking at anyone, I gazed down at my hands. They were trembling. I pressed them to the sofa to try and stop the shaking. Finally, I looked back up.

Bella was watching me, pain very evident on her face. "Thank you." I said, my voice incapable of going above a hoarse whisper. "I owe you my life." My eyes flitted to Edward, also, though I wish I had been able to keep them trained on Bella. He met my gaze steadily, with a stone cold expression. He knew that not only did I owe Bella my life, but him, too. He could have stopped Bella, could have kept her from going. Tearing my eyes away, I looked back down at my trembling hands.

It was hard to say, because I knew that she was not the only one I had said it to.

And I knew, because I owed them that much, that Daas would never be avenged.


	3. Zeke

3 3. Z E K E

I spent that night locked in Alice's room, crying and crying some more until my tears were spent. Then my dry sobs wracked my body, and I wished more than anything that I could cry myself to sleep, but just like getting revenge for my best friend, that was utterly impossible.

That morning, I crept downstairs in the hopes of finding the house deserted. Of course, with my recent twist of luck, that wish was almost immediately annihilated. Esme was cleaning when I made my appearance, but she dropped everything and rushed to give me a hug. She held me closely, and whispered into my ear, "I am so, so sorry about what happened. I feel horrible for not telling you—

I pulled out of her grasp, staring at her in bewilderment. "Esme, there is absolutely no reason for you to be sorry." Even as I said the words, I knew that they were only a half-truth, but she looked half-eaten with worry and I wasn't about to add anything to the pile.

Esme pulled me back into her hug, her lower lip quivering. We stayed there for a while, swaying back and forth. The moment was broken, though, when Alice walked in. She stood in the doorway for a moment, taking in the scene. Then she walked in slowly, sympathy very evident on her face.

"I'm sorry." She murmured, placing one small hand on my shoulder before walking away, through a door to a part of the house I had not seen yet.

I turned to face Esme again, and found it hard to look into the woman's concern-filled eyes. "What happened after I went upstairs?" My voice was hoarse from crying.

Esme replied softly, "Bella went home and Edward went with her. Carlisle went to head-off the werewolves"—I flinched at the mention of them, and Esme hurried to backtrack—"To head them off."

"Head them off?" I asked weakly.

Esme nodded, sitting me down on the couch but keeping my hand in hers. "Yes. They thought that…that _he _was a newborn. Since his eyes were red." She said, her voice hushed at the mention of Daas and I cringed. Her hands fluttered helplessly over me, like she was afraid I was in physical pain.

"No." I said, trying to force my voice to stop trembling, though I was miserably unsuccessful, "No, he was more than six hundred years old."

Esme was quiet for a moment, evidently taken aback by Daas's age. I had a feeling she would have asked me a question then, something that had to do with him, but spared me the pain of recalling an answer. I was grateful that she didn't. Instead, she said, "Carlisle should be back any minute now."

I nodded, not really listening. I was too caught up with the emotions that were fighting for control within me—anger that no one had told me, although it had been slightly diluted by Esme's sincere apologies; A aching hunger for revenge that I knew was impossible to satisfy; grief that Daas had been taken away from me; and a longing for someone who understood my pain. And none, I knew, were achievable.

When Esme left, I curled up on the couch in the living room, pulling my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. I wasn't thinking, or I refused to. It was trying to force my mind away from all of my feelings, but it wasn't working in the least. I wanted to b an empty shell, go into a coma, _something_ so that I didn't have to remember what last night was like. I wished all my feelings had turned dull, even the ones who had a painful point before. They obstinately refused to be forgotten, though, and I couldn't get away from them, no matter how hard I tried.

But the guilt eventually wormed its way into my system. The guilt that said, _It's all your fault. If you hadn't come here, Daas would still be alive. If you hadn't gone to that stupid beach, he would still be there, sitting beside you in the Cullen's house._ And as much as I tried to put the feeling away, it stayed where it was, it's long tentacles spreading discord and unrest to the little parts of me that I had managed to salvage from the wreck that I was. So deep in my thinking, I didn't notice when Carlisle entered the house and slipped away presumably to talk to Esme. I didn't realize that Edward and Bella entered what seemed like seconds later, and that Bella sat on the couch, but as far away from me as it would allow.

"Isabella?" She asked timidly, after a few minutes of watching me stare at the wall.

I turned my head slowly, Bella's words pulling me out of my reverie. "Yes?" My voice had not cleared up any since I had talked with Esme. It was still a feeble croak but right about then, I was too preoccupied with my feelings to care.

Bella took a deep breath. "I want to talk to you. Is that okay?" She asked softly.

I nodded vaguely. "Yes, Bella, you can talk to me if you want to." I was aware of Edward standing in the door, watching me warily, but I found his presence unnecessary. I had never been so in control of my thirst than now.

Bella was looking at her hands. "I talked to…" She trailed off, mustering up enough courage say his name. "I talked to Jacob this morning." She finished. Something inside me flared at the name, but I didn't say anything. Bella glanced at my face. Whatever she found there, it must have reassured her slightly. "And he said that he-he that he was sorry for last night."

I waited—obviously, I was hearing things. The idea that the mangy mongrel had said sorry that he had killed Daas in front of me was ludicrous. Absolutely, positively insane. If he was so sorry, then why had he done it in the first place? It wasn't like Daas's death—inwardly, I recoiled—was something that he could take back, smooth over with just a meek little apology. But when Bella didn't say anything, I began to doubt my resolve. Had she really just passed on an apology from my friend's killer and expect for me to believe it? I saw Edward shift his weight onto his other foot, which I found annoyed me.

"Edward." I sad sternly through my voice was hardly more than a grating sound. "I'm not going to eat her. Seriously, chill." Edward didn't do as I instructed, but remained very still and quiet, examining my face and probably my thoughts, too. I sighed quietly and turned back to Bella, who was looking at Edward too, but turned back to me when she felt my eyes on her.

"The wolf, Jacob." I said, trying hard to keep my voice stable, "Is apologizing to me for killing Daas." Bella flinched. Not at Daas's name, like I did, but the way I said Jacob's. And then, I realized quite suddenly, that I was missing something. "There is something going on," I said slowly, reading Bella's reactions, "That you don't want to tell me."

She dropped her eyes and studied her hands that were folded in her lap. After a few long moments, in which my eyes never left her clouded face, she said, in a voice that was no louder than mine, "You're right." She said, and I think that she was fighting just as much as I was to keep her voice steady.

I deliberated for a moment, and tried to be kind. This was just as hard for her as it was to me, and I had no idea why. But I didn't want to force her to tell me, so I simply asked, "Would you rather me ask or to shut up?"

She looked a little surprised at my reply. She glanced at Edward, who didn't move a fraction of an inch and left the decision to her. He was watching her intently, though, but with a softened expression. But Bella's small movement told me that he was involved, too. "I don't want you to ask." She said hesitantly, "But I feel you need to know at least a little bit of it."

"Sounds fair to me." I said, trying to keep it light.

She looked up at Edward and hesitated. He seemed to understand what she wanted and walked out of the room, shutting the door soundlessly behind him. Bella didn't notice, but the look on his face seemed pained, for some other reason other than reluctance of leaving Bella with me. But they had successfully confused me—what could Bella say that required Edward to leave?

"Is he listening?" Bella said under her breath.

I paused and concentrated. His steps faltered once, like he was about to turn around and come back, but he continued, slowly, forcing one foot to leave the ground after the other. A few more moments passed, just to make sure we had the place to ourselves, before I nodded. "Yes." I said, examining Bella. "He is gone."

"And the others?"

"Gone."

Bella sighed. "Good."

Right then, Bella told me everything. About Jacob, Edward, the Volturi. It all became a puzzle, and the pieces were falling slowly into place, one by one. She blushed quite a bit, did some editing, and had to stop a few times to get her voice from the brink of incoherency, but I could not blame her. The way she said it, the way she told me everything honestly amazed me. I had never experienced anything like it. And I slowly began to realize why she hadn't wanted to say this in front of Edward. I wouldn't have wanted him to hear it, if I had been in her place. I waited for through her story, never interrupting, and remaining emotionless until Bella began to cry a little. I slid over next to her and pulled her into my arms. She froze. I think she thought that I had ulterior motives. I admit, it did cross my mind, but the horrendous thought was banished from my mind faster than immediately. She grew comfortable with me there, and her feelings began to leak more and more into her story. She told the rest of it with me right beside her, not the farthest away we could be on opposite ends of the couch. When she was finished, she had tearstains on her cheek and my shirt had been ruined, but she looked better, with all of her feelings cried, blushed, and wrung out.

We were silent for a long time after she had finished. Neither of us was looking at each other, each of us immersed in our own private thoughts. Finally, I broke the silence.

"Why did you tell me all this?" My voice wasn't as scratchy anymore, for which I was pleased.

"I told you; I felt you needed to know." Bella's voice not as bad as mine, but she sniffled quietly. I pretended not to notice.

"So that was only part of it?" I asked skeptically.

"Well…" She said, meeting my eyes. "No, that's all of it. I sort of got carried away." She smiled a little and I returned it. After a brief pause, she asked, "Will you help me find Edward?"

I smiled to myself. "There's no need. He has been pacing outside of the house for a long time." Bella giggled and got up. I decided to go with her though, needed or not. So I got to my feet and followed her down the stairs of the magnificent house, and trailed after her when she slipped outside.

What I saw made all my previous happiness disappear instantly.

Edward was standing rigidly, ten feet away from him, both staring the other down, waiting for the first sign of weakness.

He looked much more relaxed, hands stuffed into his pockets and leaning to one side casually. He glanced up when he heard Bella. His eyes shifted from the human girl to me. His eyes had a tranquil look about him, though in a secretive manner.

"Zeke?" I gasped.

Zeke's face suddenly wasn't just behind my eyelids anymore. He was here, in the Cullen's front yard. His face was the same look of serenity, of peace about him. I, on the other hand, was astounded. He looked no different from the way I had visualized him, if a little taller and more muscled. And that stupid piercing was still there.

But, no, wait a moment. Theboy that had lurked behind my eyelids—instead, there was a man in front of me. Things that I hadn't noticed before made them selves more prominent as I looked him over. In fact, Zeke had changed since I last saw him. His eyes and hair were the exact same of midnight black, though. His hair was spiked in much the same style that I remembered it, and his eyes still had the depth to them, depth that isn't in regular seventeen year old's eyes. But he didn't look seventeen anymore—he looked twenty-five, tall, lean, and muscular. His hands looked twice the size of a normal person's, his shoulders were broader, and his teal shirt was tighter across his chest. These changes made an unexpected sadness well up inside of me—how long had it been since I had seen him? Four years? Five? Not long in a vampire's time, but long enough.

However, my sadness quickly replaced with a growing sense of anger. What on earth did he think he was doing here? And he had no right to look so placid, so impassive. Was he even aware of what he was doing? Was he out of his mind! You can't just waltz up to a house full of hostile vampires and _still _act like everything is okay, like everything is just fine. He had no right whatsoever to be so collected and undisturbed.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

The boy didn't smile, didn't say hello. Well, the again, neither did I. "I need to talk to you, please." He said easily, undaunted by the vampire staring him down, and with unexpected politeness.

Zeke was the boy that I had been thinking about last night, right before I had run into that monster, Jacob. But I could relate to Bella. Because my boyfriend until very recently, was a werewolf, too.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed through clenched teeth, glaring at him with all the hatred I could muster. Which was quite a bit, as of right now.

"I wanted to talk to you." He replied coolly, his eyes switching to Edward and then back to me. "Alone, if you don't mind."

My answer was very prompt, as I could see Rosalie and Emmett peering out of the garage, clearly alarmed by the smell. "I don't think that it possible, Zechariah." I said, referring to his real name stiffly. He didn't look away when Emmett and Rosalie took less than half second to position themselves behind Edward, who had Bella in his arms.

He frowned, the first look of unhappiness to cross his fine features. "If I may ask," He said, quietly confused, "Why not?"

I ground my teeth together. "Get out of here, Zeke."

"Why?" He sounded utterly bewildered.

"If I talk to you," I hissed, "Will you leave them alone?" I gestured to the grouping Cullens, and noticed that Esme had appeared there by most of her family, too, silently.

"Talk to me alone?" He asked, looking over at them again.

"You know him?" Growled Emmett.

I nodded and said acidly, "Unfortunately."

Zeke's jaw hardened, but he showed no other sign of hearing the insult. I realized I sounded like a complete jerk, but he—there was no—oh, never mind.

"Better get used to it." I muttered as I finally moved off the porch steps. I stayed well away from him, though he looked unfazed by my apparent rudeness.

Zeke spoke quietly to the Cullens, though he was reserved and respectful, "It was nice to meet you all," before turning his back on them and sauntered over to the edge of the woods. I took a deep breath, and reluctantly followed. When Zeke saw that I was coming, he continued on into the trees.

Just before I stepped outside of the small clearing in which the house was situated. I looked back at the Cullens, and was surprised at how very different their expressions were. Esme looked on edge, like a mother watching her daughter getting ready to do something dangerous. That struck an odd chord inside of me. It was like she almost….well, like I was a part of her family, though we had only met the night before. I hadn't known she could be so loving, so caring, to someone she had known for a few short hours.

Emmett was holding the beautiful girl's, Rosalie's, hand. The woman looked slightly interested, but not enough to ask questions. The burly Emmett looked almost eager—probably for a fight, so he could go after Zeke. As much as I despised my ex, I didn't think he deserved to be torn to shreds. Well, not by anyone other than me. I smiled, in an attempt to seem calm.

Alice was holding Bella's hand, quietly reserved. Edward was holding the human girl around the waist, calculating, and watching me intently, probably examining my thoughts. I sighed—clearly, he didn't trust me. He probably thought I was going to run off and betray his family, which I couldn't blame him for thinking. I imagine my thoughts would belong along the same tracks.

Bella looked confused, her eyebrows drawn together. She was muttering quietly to Edward, no doubt trying to figure out what was going on. After a moment, Edward nodded and replied just as low.

Carlisle was nowhere to be seen, much to my slight surprise. He seemed so on top of things all the time, the one that his family looked to in moments of indecision. His absence made the Cullen family look incomplete.

Sighing and giving the vampires one last smile, I turned back around and stepped inside the fringe of trees. Giving a half second to let my eyes get used to the darkness, I spotted a figure lounging against a tree trunk not too far away. It was just out of earshot for the vampires, I noted, making my teeth grind together. My anger made reappearance, and I strode forward purposefully.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I exploded, my voice rising. "You have got some nerve to come all the way from France just to find me. And you know what?" I said, throwing my hands in the air. "I don't want you here! I'm not going back with you! I like these people, Zeke!" I said, waving one hand in the direction of the Cullen's house. "Why can't you just leave me alone? I don't love you anymore and I—WHAT?" His eyebrows had been steadily and steadily climbing up his forehead and his eyes had gotten that amused sparkle that I used to like so much. But right now, it was goddamn annoying_._

Zeke took a deep breath, one of anticipation. He leaned forward some, so that his face was closer to me. I had already been standing quite a few feet away from him, but I backed even farther away instinctively, distrusting the werewolf, even though he was Zeke. The man spoke quietly, bemused, and slightly mocking. "I didn't come because I wanted you back." He said, a smile curving the corners of your lips.

I stood, shocked, and let his words sink in. He wasn't here because he wanted me back? Then why? And, good lord girl, stop blushing. I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks in embarrassment.

His smile grew into a satisfied one and he leaned back again, crossing his ankles across one another. I absolutely detested that smile. "What?" I asked, bluntly.

Zeke's smile grew, but he didn't answer. He was immensely proud of himself.

I took ten seconds before saying, with all the calm I could muster, "Then what do you want?"

Zeke took a long time in answering. He studied me, looking me up and down in the searching way he had. I couldn't tell what was going on behind his dark eyes. The memory of him looking at me in much the same way not but a few years ago did nothing to help get rid of the ridiculous blush that was still burning on my cheeks.

"Well." He finally started, sighing while he talked. "I wanted to see what you knew about the Volturi." He said it so calmly, so easily, but his words nevertheless surprised me.

Confused, I asked, "The Volturi?" He nodded solemnly, dead serious. "Why?" I asked warily, scrutinizing him.

The silence that ensued was very complete. We just looked at each other, as I wondered why in the world he would want to know anything about the Volturi. He was looking at me intently, his relaxed look trained right on my face. I stared back at him, unable to look away from his mesmerizing eyes.

At last, Zeke said quietly, "I can't tell you."

I openly gaped at him. He couldn't _tell _me? He came all this way from France, where he and his 'brothers' were situated, to come and ask me about the Volturi, but he couldn't tell me why. It was just like him. Exactly the sort of thing he would do.

I crossed my arms defiantly. Anticipating what was coming, Zeke sighed again. "I'm not telling you," I said, immediately on the defensive, "until you tell me why you want to know." Trying for a small smile, I said, "Fair exchange."

Zeke shook his head. "Why?" I asked, but he ignored me.

"Then we have no business talking to each other, Isabeau." He said, shrugging away from the tree. He was taller, too, than when I last saw him. I had to crane my neck to see his face.

"But…" I said, searching for something that would sway him to tell me. I didn't know why, but I felt I had to know, or something could go horribly wrong. I just had a bad feeling. Zeke kept quite a few secrets, but none that he wouldn't tell me after I persuaded him to do so. That he wasn't telling me now gave me a feeling of foreboding, of unease.

Without even glancing at me, Zeke turned on his heel and sauntered farther into the forest, away from the Cullen's house. My eyes, much to my embarrassment, welled up with tears. I tried very, very hard to keep the burning in my eyes away, but it wouldn't go.

My breath caught when he stopped, though, ten feet away. He took a deep breath—I could see his shoulders rise and slump again. He just stood there for a few long seconds and then murmured my name. "Isabeau?" He said, just above a whisper. He wasn't looking at me. He was studying the forest in front of him, determined not to turn.

"Yes, Zeke?" I tried to raise my voice, tried to make it so that I was talking normally, but it came out as a warbled whisper.

His voice was steady, very unlike mine, though still low. "I couldn't leave alone."

My throat constricted, and I tried to breathe evenly. My words came as a gasp. "You-you brought _them_?"

He nodded. I couldn't see his face, or his expression. All I could see was his back, holding him stiffly. He liked like some sort of a statue, as a sudden sway of wind found its way through the trees. His hair wavered, and his jeans flapped around his legs, but still he didn't turn.

I ignored the hair flying around my head, and the multi-colored autumn leaves being swept through the branches by the wind. The trees were growing threadbare, and frail. They had a fragile look about them, like if any one of them were struck once more, they would break, collapsing to the ground.

My thoughts moving slowly, I realized that this was how I felt. Barren, fragile…alone.

"Zeke." I whispered. I wasn't paying attention to how desperate for someone I felt. I tried to continue, but I couldn't speak around the ball in my throat. It was cutting off my words, my air, and even Zeke.

The werewolf didn't answer or respond. He just stood as still as a statue, unmoving, uncaring.

A flicker of movement in the spaces between the trees made me tear my eyes away and jerk my head to see. There, in the shadows, I could see outlines moving, their invisible eyes on Zeke and me. They moved slowly, maneuvering between the trees. I backed up a step, my breath coming faster.

No. Zeke wouldn't—he couldn't have—oh, no.

Zeke's brothers—tall, muscular men appearing everywhere. Only there were more, so much more than the ones in France. The size of the pack had almost tripled. Each face leered out at me, unsmiling, unsympathetic.

"They won't hurt you, or your friends." Zeke said quietly. He turned slowly, his face unreadable. He didn't show a spark of pity at the tears now streaming down my face. "Just stay out of their way, okay?" He said.

I shook my head, backing away. "No, Zeke." I said, my voice unable to rise above a whisper. "No."

Without one more word, without another glance at the pack, I tore away from Zeke and his brothers. I crashed through the trees, my vision blurred by the tears.

I couldn't do this—I had just lost Daas, and now Zeke had shown up the day after with nearly twenty wolves. This couldn't be happening.

It just couldn't.

**A/N: **

**Disclaimer: If I owned the Twilight Series, why on earth would I be writing FAN-fiction? Only in my wildest dreams.**

**Okay, so I am offering my beta services. I would preferably like to beta Twilight stories, but other things will be considered.**

**And…I don't have much else to say other than the regular, routine, hear-it-every-time REVIEW! **


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